Virtual cocktail lets you change drink’s flavour using app

A ‘virtual cocktail’ glass that lets you change the flavour of your drink using your smartphone has been developed by scientists.

Offering a customisable range of drinks and tastes, the ‘Vocktail’ can change a glass of water into a Mojito at the press of a button.

The world-first technology tricks your brain into thinking it is experiencing a specific flavour by fooling your senses of sight, smell and taste.

Virtual drinks could one day be used to satisfy your taste buds without any of the calories by turning water into your favourite beverages, experts claim.

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A ‘virtual cocktail’ glass that lets you change the flavour of your drink using your smartphone (app pictured right) has been developed by scientists. Offering a customisable range of drinks and tastes, the ‘Vocktail’ can change a glass of water into a Mojito at the press of a button

HOW IT WORKS

The world-first technology tricks your brain into thinking it is experiencing a specific flavour by fooling your senses of smell, taste and sight.

‘For example, in the Vocktail we overlay colour, taste and smell sensations to create an adjustable flavor experience.

‘Flavour is mainly how we perceive food and that’s achieved through the use of these senses.

‘Therefore, by changing the colour of the drink, using a different smells and changing the taste through electricity, we are able to simulate the flavor of a drink, without it actually changing the liquid.’

The pumps release ‘smell molecules’ that change your perception of the beverage’s flavour, the researchers claim.

The world-first technology tricks your brain into thinking it is experiencing a specific flavour by fooling your senses of sight, smell and taste

The glass’s three sensory components are controlled via a smartphone app (pictured). Because the software can combine a large number of smells, colours and tastes, the Vocktail can create almost any flavour, the scientists claim

For example, a lemon scent will trick your brain into believing it is tasting a lemon-flavoured drink.

On the rim of the glass are two electrode strips which send electric pulses into your tongue to stimulate your taste buds.

The 3D-printed glass houses three scent cartridges connected to micro airpumps (pictured left and right). The pumps release ‘smell molecules’ that change your perception of the beverage’s flavour, the researchers claim

On the rim of the glass are two electrode strips (pictured under the glass), which send electric pulses into your tongue to stimulate your taste buds. A jolt of 180 microamps mimics a sour taste, 80 microamps gives a bitter taste and 40 microamps a salty taste

On top of taste and smell, the Vocktail also fools the brain using an LED light system at the base of the glass.

The colour is altered to correspond to the drink – a maroon light is shone when drinking a red wine, while a bright orange light accompanies a Sex on the Beach.

Dr Ranasinghe said: ‘We are currently working on not only increasing the number of smells, but also a silent release mechanism.

The researchers are now working on increasing the number of smells available, as well as a silent release mechanism for the scent canisters

‘The reason behind having an app is to empower the users to augment the existing flavours, enabling them to experiment and create flavours of their own.

‘However, we know that simulating our sense externally is not as convincing as the real taste of the drink, so we’re constantly conducting experiments to create an even more immersive experience.

‘We want to bring it to pubs and bars, but we need industry partners to bring it out of the lab and into reality.’

Virtual drinks could one day be used to satisfy your taste buds without any of the calories by turning water into your favourite beverages, experts claim

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